Apparatus for clarifying liquids.



W. E. mcKERsoN.V

APPARATUS FOR CLARIFYING LIQUIDS.

APFLICATION FILED APR.13.I911.

1,196,880. l PatentedSc-ept. 5,1916.

A'TTY.

WILLIAM E. NICKERSON, 0F CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EVERETT D. CHADWICK, TRUSTEE, OF WINCHESTER, lvIASSMI-IUSE'ITS.

APPARATUS FOR CLARKIFYING LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

T0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. NicknasoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Clarifying Liquids, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for clarifying liquids containing sediment, and is particularly intended to provide a simple and practical apparatus which ywill serve to separate the sediment from lubricating oil which has become foul from use and thus enable the same oil to be used over again.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatusfembodying my invention, as preferably constructed. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the same; and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views, partly broken away, showing details hereinafter described.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings comprises two receptacles 2 and 3, of which the receptacle 2 may conveniently have the forni of a cylindrical tank adapted to stand l on one end, the receptacle 3 being preferably located within the tank 2 and consisting of a cylinder extending vertically at about the center of said tank and having its closed lower end located near the bottom of the tank. The two compartments thus provided communicate with each other thro-ugh openings 4 formed in the cylinder 3 at a short distance above the lower end of the latter, but otherwise said compartments are separated from each other, and preferably a pary tition 5 having the shape of an inverted cone is secured to the upper end of the cylinder 3, with the lower or pointed end of the cone entering the upper portion of said cylinder. The partition 5 thus forms Va third receptacle, which communicates with the interior of the cylinder 3 by means of a restricted opening 6 at the lower end ofy said parti-tion, and preferably this receptacle is made of such size Aand shape at its upper end that it will enter the top of the tank 2 and make a close fit therewith. in which position said receptacle and the attached cylinder 3 may be removably supported by means of a bead 7 formed on the upper edge of the receptacle 5, which rests on a similar bead 8 provided at the upper edge of the tank 2, t

9 represents a screen secured to the lower edge of a tubular member 10, which is adapted to be removably inserted into the open upper end of the receptacle 5 and to be supported therein by a bead 11 resting upon the top ofthe bead`7, and the combined receptacles are provided with a removable cover 12 adapted to fit over thel collective upper' edges thereof. The tank 2 is also provided externally with one or more draw-olf cocks 13 leading from the space which surrounds the internal cylinder 3, andl preferably a number of these cocks, located at different elevations, are employed.

The parts above described constitute a settling apparatus which, if oil containing sediment is allowed to stand within it for a sufficient length yof time, will permit the sediment to graduallyv settle to the bottom of the receptacles 2 and 3, as shown at 14, leaving the oil thus clarified available to be withdrawn and used over again.

1n use, a quantity of foul oil is poured into the top of the apparatus from time to time, whence it passes first through the screen 9, which removes the coarser dirt and sediment. The oil neXt flows through the opening 6 into the top of the receptacle 3, from which receptacle it passes through the openings 4 into the tank 2 and is drawn therefrom in suitable quantities from time to time through that one of the draw-off cocks 13 which is next below the upper surface of the oil, since the oil will be clearest at this point. While the oil remains in the various receptacles the sediment gradually separates therefrom by gravity and falls to the bottom of the receptacles 2 and 3, and itis contemplated that the various receptacles willbe given such size, with respect to the normal consumption of oil by the user, that the time which elapses between the introduction of a given quantity of oilV into the receptacle 5 andthe withdrawal of the same body of oil'fromthe upper portion ofthe tank 2 willbe suflicient to permit the desired clarification to take place. Whenever a quantity of oil is withdrawn from the tank 2, like quantities will flow from the receptacle 3 into said tank and from the receptacle 5 into the receptacle 3,

rent of oil passing through said opening, whence this sediment will fall to the bottom of the receptacle 3. VIt will thus be seen that the point at which the foul oil is introduced into the apparatus is the most remote from the point at which the clarified oil is withdrawn, and that the walls of the various receptacles effectively prevent the mixing of the foul oilwith the clarified oil, the movement of the oil within the apparatus being always in a direction toward the point where the clarified portion of the oil is located. Furthermore,ethe arrangement and location of the various openings through which the oil passes is such that neither the introduction of a quantity of foul oil into the apparatus nor the movement of the oil through the apparatus can set up any internal currents which will agitate the deposited sediment and cause it to mix with the clarified oil, since the opening 6 is located at a considerable distance above the deposited sediment and is of small diameter as compared with receptacle 3, while the movement of the oil through the openings 4 is necessarily in a lateral direction and at a point above the deposited sediment.

rlhe employment of several draw-0E cocks 13 permits oil to be withdrawn even though the supply is not fully maintained by the introduction ofY foul oil, and in order to avoid the trapping of air in the upper portion of the receptacle 3 in case the clarified oil has been drawn ofi' to such an extent as to lower the level of the oil below the top of said receptacle, the partition 5 is preferably provided with a supplementary opening 15 located within and near the upper end of the receptacle 3, through which opening any air which may be contained in said receptacle above the lower end of the partition 5 will have an opportunity to escape.

The separability of the several receptacles one from another makes it easy to cleanse these parts and remove the sediment therefrom, and in order to facilitate the cleansing of the receptacle 3 its bottom is preferably made to consist of a removable cover 16 `fitting tightly into the lower end of said receptacle, as shown inrFigs. 2 and 4, while access to the bottom portion of the outer receptacle or tank 2 is aorded by Ymeans of a removable screw plug 17.

The entire apparatus is compact, simple and inexpensive, and while the various parts are preferably constructed and arranged as illustrated and described, it will be evident that the same may be modified in various respects without departing from my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A clarifying apparatus comprising an upright tank having an open top, an inner receptacle extending vertically therein and having a normally-closed sediment-receiving space at its lower end and lateral openings above said space, said tank and receptacle providing vertically unobstructed sedimentation chambers communicating through said lateral openings only, another receptacle contained in the upper portion of the tank and provided with a discharge opening leading into the inner receptacle and of much less diameter than the latter, whereby the passage of liquid through said discharge opening is prevented from disturbing the sedimentation in the inner receptacle, and means for withdrawing the clarified liquid from the upper portion of the tank.

2. A clarifying apparatus comprising an upright tank having an open top, a receptacle removably located in the upper portion of the tank and having a downwardlyextending conical bottom, an inner receptacle extending vertically within the central portion of the tank and having its upper end secured to and closed by said conical bottom, the latter being provided with a discharge opening leading into the inner receptacle and of much less diameter than the latter, whereby the passage of liquid through said discharge opening is prevented from ydisturbingthe sedimentation in the inner receptacle, said inner receptacle being provided with a removable cover normally closing its lower end and with lateral openings above the same, a strainer removably contained within the first-mentioned receptacle,a removable cover for the combined tank and contained receptacles, and means for withdrawing the clarified liquid from the upper portion of the tank.

ln testimony whereof, l have hereunto subscribed my name this eleventh day of April, 1911.

WILLIAM E. NICKERSON.

Witnesses:

E. D. CHADWICK, OLIVER R. MITCHELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing theV Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C. 

